Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-07-21

no such thing Is a tame lion or tam,
jaguar. He may seem to be tame, bu
the original savage is in his breast JUS
the same, sir. and only waiting for II
occasion to break out. Gunpowdel
doesn't make much of a noise unit
! you put light to it, does it, sir? And
besides, it's strictly against our orders
sir, to take any risk by making fret
with the dangerous animals There
! was keeper who had charge of the
reptiles, and he got into foolish way
Of handling the snakes. He thought
he'd tanned one of the cobras. and used
to put it inside the bosom of his shirt.
| Well, sir, one afternoon that cobra
brought his head out underneath the
I mans collar and bit him in the neck.
Every thing was done for him, but he
| died in few hours"
':But occasionally me animals grow
very docile and affectionate, especially
when they are born and bred in the
gardens, do they not?" we inquired.
Some do, like the seals and the sea-
lions-they are as affectionats and as
intelligent as dogs; but others, such as
the lion, the tiger, the bear and the
| wolf, can never be depended on.
''When they are born in the gardens,
it isn't as you'd suppose; they are
more ferocious then than when they
were brought from India, Africa or
Tho soornvano on6 tho
way they are treated in being brought
here, and the change of climate, take
the stamina out of a mature animal.
But, suppose an animal is reared here
say lion cub. Why, he always has
plenty Of room and plenty of good
food. and if he is ruffied he shows a
good deal more temper than the for
eigner. When we have to move them
from one cage to another, the lion and
tiger cubs give us more trouble than
any of the rest the keeper
added. ''They will bite at the bars
and at every thing within reach until
their teeth bleed.
"But the liveliest time we have with
them is when their claws want pairing.
You see, sir, that the exercise the
lions and tigers get in their native
forests keeps their claws proper
length, but it often happens that in
captivity the claws grow unusually
long. as you may have seen a canarys,
and turn in on the pad of the foot,
making an ugly wound. Wouldn't
care about trimming the nails of a
Bengal tiger, now. would you. sir?
Well, it is bit ticklish. and no mis-
take. The first thing we do is to get
the animal out of the large cage into 4
| small one, where he has no room to
move, and this is not easy. But when
he's in there he hasn't much chance to
struggle. and we get hold of the sore
paw with sort of slip-noose and pull
it out underneath the bars of the cage.
1t usually takes three or four of us to
| hold on to it, and when we've dragged
it as far as it'll come another keeper
comes along with a pair of nippers
and nips off the in-growing nail. Owl.
sir? do you ask me if he owls. sir?
He owls and roars both. It's like one
of them tornadoes that you have in
America, sir.
"Something similar has to be done
when. as sometimes happens, bone
or piece of meat becomes lodged in
the jaws of an animal so that it can
be neither swallowed nor elected.
Then, again, the animal is forced into
contracted quarters and the obstruc-
ton is removed with prong. I've
seen a jackal with a piece of gristle
and bone damned in between his teeth
so that he couldn't shut his mouth"
said the keeper, land all the while his
mate has been snarling around him
wanting to get hold of it. The poor
beggar would have let her have it
soon enough if he could only have got
it out.
"The visitors sometimes give you
more trouble than the animals?' we
inquired.
'.Aye. that they do, sir, and sailors
in particular They get drop too
much in them and then there's nothing
they won't do. What do yon suppose
happened the other day? A fellow let
his hat fall into the pit, and then
climbed over the railing and went
down after it. When l came along
there he was in the bottom of the pit,
dancing around with the bear. which
was standing on mis- launches and had
his paws on the mans shoulders. l
managed to get him out with only \
torn coat, but he wasn't bit thankful.
He said he had eaten more bears than
l had ever seen. Perhaps he was an
American, SIR"
The keeper, who had been very
placid, suddenly became excited, and
pointed in the direction of the bcar-pit
of which he had been speaking. 'Just
look there"
The pit is stone well, about twenty
five feet deep and fifteen feet in dame
ter, with pole in the middle for the
bears to climb. and an iron railing
L